I think spending 50+K on a car, then wrapping it in plastic is a factual stupidity...not just an opinion. People wrap buses and vans for advertising...I think this is one step away from chrome wipers and neon.

I think spending 50+K on a car, then wrapping it in plastic is a factual stupidity...not just an opinion. People wrap buses and vans for advertising...I think this is one step away from chrome wipers and neon.

To each its own, and those who have money, do whatever they want with their toys. Just FYI.

I think spending 50+K on a car, then wrapping it in plastic is a factual stupidity...not just an opinion. People wrap buses and vans for advertising...I think this is one step away from chrome wipers and neon.

Before I start I have to say you did do a nice looking install. To bad it will not look that way very long. Your method of application is short of what it takes to make one stay on. I already see a place on the front wheel well that is coming up and going to peel.

Here are just a few points and just the tip of the ice burg.

#1. Any vinyl you are going to get for $120.00 for enough to wrap a car is going to be cheap, hard to work with, and not last very long.

#2. Take into consideration if you are going to have to remove it or not someday and the damage it is going to do to your car.

#3. There is a reason shops charge good money to do vehicles. They are trained on the proper materials and know how they will act under different situations. And more important preparation before application like removing all wax and contaminates. Leave wax on a white hood where it gets heat and you will have a giant brown spot baked into your hood when you remove the wrap. They know when to use and not to use adhesive promoters and edge sealers to keep it from coming loose.

Wrap vinyls are made to go on dry with ease without bubbles and wrinkles. They are also made to be removed with ease. Intermediate vinyls are a bitch to remove and you will cause damage to the paint taking it off. BTW Oracal is one the worst to remove I have found.

Next is Intermediate vinyls are made different then premium wrap vinyls and have way different properties. The biggest is they shrink (really bad) and crack. Any low areas the vinyl was stretched into will lift in about 2 to 4 weeks and will tight as a drum head. When it is time to remove it will come off in little pieces the size of a dime. Good wrap vinyl will come off in one piece without chemicals that cause damage to paint. Just because the manufacture says it has removable adhesive does not mean it removes easy.

So if using $120 worth of vinyl for a DIY on your BMW that is only going to look cool for about 3 months (if that long) before it goes to pieces is worth a $2000 paint job then be my guest. If you want to use cheap vinyl you are mostly likely one of those people that would use Walmart spray paint anyway.

Wrapping cars is not that new and if it was that cheap and easy you would see a whole lot less paint jobs. I am just saying do some research and learning before you screw up a good paint job for a worse looking fake one. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I have been slinging vinyl for almost 30 years and wrapped just about anything you can think of with every kind of vinyl known.

Before I start I have to say you did do a nice looking install. To bad it will not look that way very long. Your method of application is short of what it takes to make one stay on. I already see a place on the front wheel well that is coming up and going to peel.

Here are just a few points and just the tip of the ice burg.

#1. Any vinyl you are going to get for $120.00 for enough to wrap a car is going to be cheap, hard to work with, and not last very long.

#2. Take into consideration if you are going to have to remove it or not someday and the damage it is going to do to your car.

#3. There is a reason shops charge good money to do vehicles. They are trained on the proper materials and know how they will act under different situations. And more important preparation before application like removing all wax and contaminates. Leave wax on a white hood where it gets heat and you will have a giant brown spot baked into your hood when you remove the wrap. They know when to use and not to use adhesive promoters and edge sealers to keep it from coming loose.

Wrap vinyls are made to go on dry with ease without bubbles and wrinkles. They are also made to be removed with ease. Intermediate vinyls are a bitch to remove and you will cause damage to the paint taking it off. BTW Oracal is one the worst to remove I have found.

Next is Intermediate vinyls are made different then premium wrap vinyls and have way different properties. The biggest is they shrink (really bad) and crack. Any low areas the vinyl was stretched into will lift in about 2 to 4 weeks and will tight as a drum head. When it is time to remove it will come off in little pieces the size of a dime. Good wrap vinyl will come off in one piece without chemicals that cause damage to paint. Just because the manufacture says it has removable adhesive does not mean it removes easy.

So if using $120 worth of vinyl for a DIY on your BMW that is only going to look cool for about 3 months (if that long) before it goes to pieces is worth a $2000 paint job then be my guest. If you want to use cheap vinyl you are mostly likely one of those people that would use Walmart spray paint anyway.

Wrapping cars is not that new and if it was that cheap and easy you would see a whole lot less paint jobs. I am just saying do some research and learning before you screw up a good paint job for a worse looking fake one. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I have been slinging vinyl for almost 30 years and wrapped just about anything you can think of with every kind of vinyl known.

So would you consider some of the higher end Oracal stuff such as the 951 which seems to made specifically for automotive applications in mind.. some of the better stuff that will stand the test of time? I figure while the cost of the material is a big part of it when you're going for the good stuff, a bigger part of it is the labor since its a lot of work.

My goal personally is to save $$ in doing it myself not so much in the materials as I've got the time/patience (though no experience)... but I wanna do it right.

It is a very good install especially for a first time. But I want to see pictures of it 3 months from now.

Surface prep: This is the most important part. I good install is worth nothing if it does not stay stuck. Clean and strip all wax with Prep-sol or wax and grease remover. Get it at the local body shop and auto paint supply. Pay close attention to those hard to get in cracks and under the fender wells as well as all places the edge of the vinyl lays. Prep-sol does not remove much but breaks it loose. re-clean with common rubbing alcohol to remove residue. This takes 2 or 3 times to get it all. Go over those same tough spot more than once. When it is clean enough to wrap you should be able lightly place the palm of your hand on it and almost feel like you could stick to it like Spiderman. The use of Prep-sol increases adhesion 6 times more than if you just cleaned it with alcohol.

Now as far as vinyl handling I won't get into. Those of us that make a living doing this prefer to keep our trade secrets. I will say this that car should not take more than a day to wrap by an experienced installer. The biggest reason I even started this reply is I hate seeing folks being mislead and damaging their cars by getting the idea this is an easy task and can be done with intermediate vinyls like 651 or some other calendered vinyl that is meant for flat sign work.

Zach Bowman is an idiot for not doing any research before putting this on autoblog as a $120 DIY project.

djaemac - Not to steal your thunder, that's is one hell of a job for your first time.

I've notice in the later post, some "pros" have started giving do's and don'ts ...if you plan on a DIY wrap project, please read every post and then do some additional research before you wad up your money and throw it in the trash and ruin a perfectly good paint job in the process.

A good option might be the ORACAL 751 High Performance Cast Vinyl 48" x 50 Yard Roll for only $384... only 2 mil thick but it describes it as being very easy to work with around rough edges...

So basically what's it like taking this stuff off after a couple years...if it is anything like window tint with the application fluids I don't think it is worth the trouble...lol

Or do you just peel the stuff off and wash the car and you are good to go???

751 is not a good option. And if only you could just peel the stuff off and go to a car wash. It comes off in little pieces, and you will wear holes in your figures getting the stuff off. The residue left takes chemicals and scraping with a plastic blade to get off.